EDRIO for Drygulch

What is EDRIO? Every Damn Razor I Own. In late October, the guys on the 30 Day Focus thread were talking about themes for November. Rather than No Variation November, a few were talking about doing No No Variation November. Basically, could they do an entire month of shaves without repeating anything? I have enough gear to do a month without repeats, but realized I was way over on razors. I cracked a joke that I could shave most of a year without using the same razor twice. That got me thinking, could I really do that? I shave every 2-3 days, so normally 12-13 shaves a month. I grabbed 12 solo cups and started divvying out razors. I know I have some that won’t fit into cups, and I still have a bunch of razors in storage. I think I may actually have enough razors to do this. I will seriously need to up my honing game to make this work.

I’m going to post each shave with a shave number, and the type of razor. I don’t have enough of anything else to get close to a year, so I will stay on my current soap rotation (about 35 soaps, use one every other shave until it’s gone and rotate through the rest,) which is about a 4 month rotation. I will do a monthly wrap up that lists all the razors used that month.
My initial thoughts on this. Holy cow, I have a lot of razors. I also have a lot of them that I have never sharpened and used. I’m also going in on No Buy 2019, because I have a four month rotation of soaps, and enough razors to not repeat them for a year. I will likely start thinning the herd down towards the end of this year. Anyone who would like to is welcome to play along with EDRIO. Either contribute on here, or start your own thread. I know a few of you have enough razors to go at least six months. Happy New Year, all!

What is EDRIO? Every Damn Razor I Own. In late October, the guys on the 30 Day Focus thread were talking about themes for November. Rather than No Variation November, a few were talking about doing No No Variation November. Basically, could they do an entire month of shaves without repeating anything? I have enough gear to do a month without repeats, but realized I was way over on razors. I cracked a joke that I could shave most of a year without using the same razor twice. That got me thinking, could I really do that? I shave every 2-3 days, so normally 12-13 shaves a month. I grabbed 12 solo cups and started divvying out razors. I know I have some that won’t fit into cups, and I still have a bunch of razors in storage. I think I may actually have enough razors to do this. I will seriously need to up my honing game to make this work.

I’m going to post each shave with a shave number, and the type of razor. I don’t have enough of anything else to get close to a year, so I will stay on my current soap rotation (about 35 soaps, use one every other shave until it’s gone and rotate through the rest,) which is about a 4 month rotation. I will do a monthly wrap up that lists all the razors used that month.View attachment 182572
My initial thoughts on this. Holy cow, I have a lot of razors. I also have a lot of them that I have never sharpened and used. I’m also going in on No By 2019, because I have a four month rotation of soaps, and enough razors to not repeat them for a year. I will likely start thinning the herd down towards the end of this year. Anyone who would like to is welcome to play along with EDRIO. Either contribute on here, or start your own thread. I know a few of you have enough razors to go at least six months. Happy New Year, all!

very cool Adam.. i have 35 ish razors so i can use one every 10 days or so,i will start with flat bottom techs..then i can complete a focus as well..on a NB-19..lots of soaps,creams,balms, splashes and brushes..should be a blast..

What is EDRIO? Every Damn Razor I Own. In late October, the guys on the 30 Day Focus thread were talking about themes for November. Rather than No Variation November, a few were talking about doing No No Variation November. Basically, could they do an entire month of shaves without repeating anything? I have enough gear to do a month without repeats, but realized I was way over on razors. I cracked a joke that I could shave most of a year without using the same razor twice. That got me thinking, could I really do that? I shave every 2-3 days, so normally 12-13 shaves a month. I grabbed 12 solo cups and started divvying out razors. I know I have some that won’t fit into cups, and I still have a bunch of razors in storage. I think I may actually have enough razors to do this. I will seriously need to up my honing game to make this work.

I’m going to post each shave with a shave number, and the type of razor. I don’t have enough of anything else to get close to a year, so I will stay on my current soap rotation (about 35 soaps, use one every other shave until it’s gone and rotate through the rest,) which is about a 4 month rotation. I will do a monthly wrap up that lists all the razors used that month.View attachment 182572
My initial thoughts on this. Holy cow, I have a lot of razors. I also have a lot of them that I have never sharpened and used. I’m also going in on No By 2019, because I have a four month rotation of soaps, and enough razors to not repeat them for a year. I will likely start thinning the herd down towards the end of this year. Anyone who would like to is welcome to play along with EDRIO. Either contribute on here, or start your own thread. I know a few of you have enough razors to go at least six months. Happy New Year, all!

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I will definitely be following along, though I don't have nearly enough razors to go an entire year. Maybe 45-60 days if I use everything in the house, including that Soviet straight that impersonates a razor. I'm anxious to see how far through the year you can get. A No-Buy 19 eh? Care to place a bet on that? I did well on those bets last year as a very classy custom brush will prove. I have to say I am surprised to hear 35 soaps. I would have guessed quite a few more.

Adam I will happily follow your posts but for me and how many razors I have I plead the fifth. I don’t want to leave any proof in the public domain. This looks like it will be a fun project. However when we met I remember seeing a lot more razors than you show in the picture .

I will definitely be following along, though I don't have nearly enough razors to go an entire year. Maybe 45-60 days if I use everything in the house, including that Soviet straight that impersonates a razor. I'm anxious to see how far through the year you can get. A No-Buy 19 eh? Care to place a bet on that? I did well on those bets last year as a very classy custom brush will prove. I have to say I am surprised to hear 35 soaps. I would have guessed quite a few more.

Good luck!

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Yeah, I’ll do the bet. My no buy still allows trades of shave gear, FYI. There would be more soap, but I actually focused on using up containers in 2018. I killed off 8 soaps, unfortunately I purchased 10 more.

Adam I will happily follow your posts but for me and how many razors I have I plead the fifth. I don’t want to leave any proof in the public domain. This looks like it will be a fun project. However when we met I remember seeing a lot more razors than you show in the picture .

Click to expand...

Belive it or not, that picture has all the razors from those two cases. I have a couple tubs of straights to hone that I still need to find, and my Mayhem box is still around here somewhere, which should have another five or six razors in it. Mrs. Gulch thinks the fact that I might be able to do a year of shaves without repeating a razor is proof of my insanity, but fully supports NB19.

Alrighty, starting at the Superspeed and going counterclockwise, January’s line up:
I took these out to check the edges, and got a nasty surprise from one straight, am old Genco with beautiful Cracked Ice Celluoid scales, and the start of cell rot. This one will get dropped back into another month’s line up after new scales and some clean up.
Looking at my January line up, I think my preference for translucent plastic/ acrylic scales is showing.

What is EDRIO? Every Damn Razor I Own. In late October, the guys on the 30 Day Focus thread were talking about themes for November. Rather than No Variation November, a few were talking about doing No No Variation November. Basically, could they do an entire month of shaves without repeating anything? I have enough gear to do a month without repeats, but realized I was way over on razors. I cracked a joke that I could shave most of a year without using the same razor twice. That got me thinking, could I really do that? I shave every 2-3 days, so normally 12-13 shaves a month. I grabbed 12 solo cups and started divvying out razors. I know I have some that won’t fit into cups, and I still have a bunch of razors in storage. I think I may actually have enough razors to do this. I will seriously need to up my honing game to make this work.

I’m going to post each shave with a shave number, and the type of razor. I don’t have enough of anything else to get close to a year, so I will stay on my current soap rotation (about 35 soaps, use one every other shave until it’s gone and rotate through the rest,) which is about a 4 month rotation. I will do a monthly wrap up that lists all the razors used that month.View attachment 182572
My initial thoughts on this. Holy cow, I have a lot of razors. I also have a lot of them that I have never sharpened and used. I’m also going in on No Buy 2019, because I have a four month rotation of soaps, and enough razors to not repeat them for a year. I will likely start thinning the herd down towards the end of this year. Anyone who would like to is welcome to play along with EDRIO. Either contribute on here, or start your own thread. I know a few of you have enough razors to go at least six months. Happy New Year, all!

01/01/19. razor #1 .#27 british flat bottom tech set
the nos #27 starts the my year.will use this razor for 10 or so shaves, at 36 ish razors i should last the year..
astra blade,jr brush..stirling gentleman soap and a/s..very cool thread adam,thank you..

This was one of the first razors I purchased, and the first one I had restored. Kevin, @HolyRollah cleaned it up well and put a great edge on it. If you look closely at the blade you can see lines where the blade was forged and didn't come together seamlessly. I actually think this defect is kind of cool. I have another Green Lizard that doesn't have this. I touched up the blade on a 12k before using, because I think it has been a year or two since I used this razor. Got a solid shave, but could use some more keenness on the razor. I'm hoping by the end of this project I will have a much better handle on testing the shave readiness of blades before actually using them.

Alrighty, starting at the Superspeed and going counterclockwise, January’s line up:View attachment 182699View attachment 182700
I took these out to check the edges, and got a nasty surprise from one straight, am old Genco with beautiful Cracked Ice Celluoid scales, and the start of cell rot. This one will get dropped back into another month’s line up after new scales and some clean up.View attachment 182701
Looking at my January line up, I think my preference for translucent plastic/ acrylic scales is showing.

This is the oldest American Straight I have found so far. It was made between 1907 and 1912. When I found it, it had broken black celluoid or rubber scales, and was in rough shape. Case Brothers pre-dates the WR Case and Sons company that still exists today. When the barn they were using for a forge in Little Valley, NY burned down in 1912, they sold the Tested XX trademark to thier brother, and went to work for him. This razor was restored and rescaled in Wenge wood with a Turquoise wedge by Glen. @gssixgun. I traded a double layer gun belt I made for the work. It was honed up to 30k on the Sharpton system, and hasn’t even needed a touch up in two years and about 30 uses. Not bad for what was originally a $16 purchase.

This is the oldest American Straight I have found so far. It was made between 1907 and 1912. When I found it, it had broken black celluoid or rubber scales, and was in rough shape. Case Brothers pre-dates the WR Case and Sons company that still exists today. When the barn they were using for a forge in Little Valley, NY burned down in 1912, they sold the Tested XX trademark to thier brother, and went to work for him. This razor was restored and rescaled in Wenge wood with a Turquoise wedge by Glen. I traded a double layer gun belt I made for the work. It was honed up to 30k on the Sharpton system, and hasn’t even needed a touch up in two years and about 30 uses. Not bad for what was originally a $16 purchase.View attachment 183019View attachment 183020

EDRIO shave # 3, January 6th.
Dubl Duck Special #1, restored and modified by Shon Spevak. The blade was blued, and the scales were done in translucent acrylic. Its a smaller razor at just under 5/8ths, but holds a good edge, and I love the look of this one. Second picture is from Shon.

EDRIO shave # 3, January 6th.
Dubl Duck Special #1, restored and modified by Shon Spevak. The blade was blued, and the scales were done in translucent acrylic. Its a smaller razor at just under 5/8ths, but holds a good edge, and I love the look of this one. Second picture is from Shon.View attachment 183212View attachment 183213

EDRIO shave # 3, January 6th.
Dubl Duck Special #1, restored and modified by Shon Spevak. The blade was blued, and the scales were done in translucent acrylic. Its a smaller razor at just under 5/8ths, but holds a good edge, and I love the look of this one. Second picture is from Shon.View attachment 183212View attachment 183213

I haven’t been doing good with keeping this thread up this month, so here are a couple of catch up posts. I have only been shaving about every three days, so I will end the month with only 10 shaves. I do believe my EDRIO is going to stretch into 2020. Since I hate wasting DE blades, I went ahead and did all three of the DEs back to back to use the same blade.

EDRIO Shave # 4, January 10
Razor: Gillette Superspeed with Sharp Star Blade
This was a razor I picked up to have an extra in case someone wants to try wet shaving. This was my first time using it. I am glad I didn’t give it to anyone, as it needs some work. The doors don’t close properly, and one side ends up with a huge blade gap. Like more blade feel than a Fatboy on 9, but without any blade chatter. The other side is milder than a blue tip, and was pretty much useless to shave with. I got a great shave with a ton of blade feel on the wide open side, but I wouldn’t want to give this to a newbie right now.
EDRIO Shave # 5, January 15
Razor: Saiver 2.0 Russian Razor with Sharp Star Blade
Interesting Razor. I won this in the December Raffle. It’s a modern Russian razor, with an aluminum handle and cap, a stamped steel shim/spacer, and a plastic baseplate. One side of the baseplate is open comb, and one side is safety bar. The shim piece extends further on one side, creating more blade feel. I didn’t realize until after I had used it that you can also break a DE blade, and load the two pieces above the shim, and a full blade under it, making a DE twin. I used both sides with a single blade loaded, and enjoyed the blade feel on the aggressive side. The mild side was nice on some of the hot spots on my neck that get torn up easy. I am looking forward to trying it sometime next year with two blades.
EDRIO Shave # 6, January 18
Razor: Staley Live Blade head on Windrose handle with Sharp Star Blade
Lots of people have seen the Staley Live Blade razor, with its oversized handle that makes the blade vibrate. This one didn’t have a working mechanism in the handle, so I swapped the head to a heavy stainless handle. Efficient shave without being aggressive. It will bite if you get heavy handed on the pressure though. Good shave.

On to the straights. One thing with having a large collection of straights is trying to keep them all honed. I have enough that have been professionally honed that I haven’t been great about practicing honing, because I always had another one that could be used that was shave ready. EDRIO is making me focus on using all of them. For January, I picked mostly shave ready ones. I have two that I didn’t get to that will be moved to the February pile, and they will also need honing.

EDRIO Shave # 7, January 22
Razor: Crandall Cut Co.
This is a small razor from Bradford, PA. The family that owned the company was related to the Case family, and it holds an edge like all the awesome razors from NY and PA in this time period. Obnoxious Orange acrylic scales are just a bonus.
EDRIO Shave # 8, January 24
Razor: Kinfolks Blue Steel Special
Kinfolks razors were made by members of the Case family as a second company. They are amazing steel, even if a little plain. This one is a common razor, but a little larger than most I have seen at 6/8. Original scales and just a little patina I need to polish out. Fantastic steel that holds an edge well.
EDRIO Shave # 9, January 27
Razor: Thistle Cut Co, New York
Thistle razors are not too common, but aren’t that difficult to find. They were made in New York and Freemont, OH. This one still has its original celluloid or hard rubber scales (no idea how to tell which it is.) The finish on both of my Thistles has lines that almost look like plating coming off. Fortunately, the steel at the edge is great. I couldn’t remember the last time I used this one, so I touched it up on my 12k Sharpton stone and stropped it well. Great edge and comfortable shave.
EDRIO Shave # 10, January 31
Razor: BIRR Wagon Wheel
Today was a good day for vintage Sheffield Steel. I got this razor in trade from a friend in the UK a few years ago. I used it in December, and I remembered it pulling, so I went to the 12k Sharpton stone to freshen it up. It is a quarter hollow grind 7/8 razor with an Irish tip, still in its original horn scales with a lead wedge. The steel is not as hard as some of my American razors, but it gives a comfortable shave, and the heavy weight just plows through whiskers.